When I was growing up, like most children, I would try to put off the moment that must go to bed for as long as I possibly could, by using excuses like extra homework, last minute hunger pangs and the inevitable thirst for another glass of water. Alas, it was all to no avail, since my mother saw through each of my carefully prepared statements and sent me off packing at the usual time. While I resented her firmness at the time, I now admit that she had a point when she claimed that an hour of sleep before midnight was worth two hours after midnight.
I find that the earlier I go bed, even if I have to get up earlier because I have had enough sleep, the more refreshed I feel, whereas when I go to bed after twelve o’clock (which to be honest is actually most of the time), I my sleep is disturbed and no matter how comfortable my cheap memory foam mattressand Hungarian goose down duvetis, I do not feel rested. I have tried to change my bed time so that I can manage to be asleep for eleven, but something always delays me and I find myself tossing and turning on my Hungarian goose down pillows for at least an hour. I know that it is just a matter of training and routine so that my internal body clock can adjust to a new sleep pattern but I never seem to be able to manage three early nights on the run.
I am very strict about my children’s bedtime and make sure that they go to bed at the times I deem appropriate for their ages. I realise that this is probably a result of my own bedtime regimen when I was a child but with age comes wisdom and I now tackle my kid’s excuses in the same way which my mother dealt with me. When my middle child was a baby she would have five minute power naps and then awake completely fresh, as though she had just slept for a couple of hours. I have tried to have power naps but find that I fall into deep sleep so quickly that I wake up groggy and in a worse mood than I was before I decided to try having a nap!